---
title: "How many steps up Wat Saket (the Golden Mount)? 344"
description: "344 steps up Wat Saket (the Golden Mount) in Bangkok, Thailand. Open to climb. What that count reaches, the height climbed, and how it compares."
url: https://atoneplace.net/how-many-steps/wat-saket/
site: "At One Place"
---

# How many steps to the top of Wat Saket (the Golden Mount)?

**Steps to the top of Wat Saket (the Golden Mount): 344**

Reaching the golden chedi at the top of the artificial hill, at 58 m · open to climb

The hill is entirely artificial: an earlier chedi collapsed into a mud mound during the reign of Rama III, and rather than clear it the mound was reinforced with concrete and built on. The 344 steps spiral around the outside past bells and prayer flags, so the climb is a circumambulation rather than a staircase. In the nineteenth century the temple was where Bangkok's cholera dead were brought, and vultures gathered on the mount. It is one of the few high points in an otherwise flat city.

## The numbers

- **Steps:** 344
- **Reaches:** the golden chedi at the top of the artificial hill, at 58 m
- **Public access:** Open to climb
- **Where:** Bangkok, Thailand
- **Height climbed:** 58 m — 190 ft
- **Average rise per step:** 169 mm

## What the climb is like

15 minutes, shaded and gentle. One of the easier temple climbs in Southeast Asia.

> Published counts for the same structure routinely disagree by five to ten per cent, and nearly always for one of three reasons: whether intermediate landings count as steps, whether the final platform step counts, and where the climb is deemed to start. The figure here says what it reaches.

## How it compares

*Only the ones marked open to climb can actually be walked.*

- El Castillo, Chichén Itzá: 365 steps
- United States Capitol dome: 365 steps
- Mont-Saint-Michel Abbey: 350 steps
- Wat Saket (the Golden Mount): 344 steps
- Elizabeth Tower (Big Ben): 334 steps
- Washington National Cathedral central tower: 333 steps
- Strasbourg Cathedral: 332 steps

*Wat Saket (the Golden Mount) ranks 36 of 56 here by step count.*

| Structure | Steps | Reaches | Access |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| El Castillo, Chichén Itzá | 365 | the temple at the top of the pyramid — climbing has been prohibited since 2006 | Not climbable by the public |
| United States Capitol dome | 365 | the top of the dome — staff-escorted tours only | Not climbable by the public |
| Mont-Saint-Michel Abbey | 350 | the abbey church and the west terrace, from the village entrance | Open to climb |
| Wat Saket (the Golden Mount) | 344 | the golden chedi at the top of the artificial hill, at 58 m | Open to climb |
| Elizabeth Tower (Big Ben) | 334 | the belfry, where the Great Bell hangs | Restricted — events or permit only |
| Washington National Cathedral central tower | 333 | the top of the Gloria in Excelsis tower, the highest point in the city | Restricted — events or permit only |
| Strasbourg Cathedral | 332 | the platform at 66 m, at the base of the spire | Open to climb |

## Common questions

### How many steps to the top of Wat Saket (the Golden Mount)?

344, reaching the golden chedi at the top of the artificial hill, at 58 m.

### Can the public climb Wat Saket (the Golden Mount)?

Open to climb. 15 minutes, shaded and gentle. One of the easier temple climbs in Southeast Asia.

### How high is that climb?

58 m, about 190 ft, which averages 169 mm per step.

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## Sources

- Wikidata — Wikimedia Foundation (https://www.wikidata.org/) [CC0 1.0]